Cluster 1
By Angelina Lee
Over the course of the final week, we dove straight into the complicated, yet intriguing lessons of discrete math and number theory. In discrete math, we applied the chromatic numbers, or the lowest amount of colors in a graph G where each vertex has one color and no edge connects two vertices of the same color. We then attempted to prove the Five-Coloring Theorem, which states that all planar graphs must have a chromatic number equal to or less than five. As for number theory, we looked into quadratic reciprocity, which identifies whether a number x is a square modulo of modulo y. Although the final presentation loomed over our heads, we were able to also fit in group work pertaining to topics such as cryptography and Korselt’s Theorem, presenting our solutions to the class. Thank you to everyone in Cluster 1 for making COSMOS the best it could be!
Cluster 2
By Jonathan Morales and Yelena Tao
As COSMOS came to an end, Cluster 2 spent a majority of their week in the Science & Engineering Library to complete their final individual research presentation on a specific application of nanotechnology in the real world. In addition, we worked with our lab partners to create a digital poster on one of six labs we conducted throughout our four weeks. On Monday, we spent our day learning about different types of batteries and exploring their chemical and electrical properties and their advantages and disadvantages. The next day, everyone had a chance to learn and see how an electron microscope functions. The researcher working with the microscope even allowed us to carve a design on some gold nanoparticles with an ion beam! He explained how you can penetrate channels between the ions to create images such as Professor Shaowei Chen or Shrek. On Thursday we had our final lectures, involving fuel cells and how to see atomic structures on a microscope. On the final day of class, we presented our presentations to our professors and Cluster 10. All too soon, it was closing day; after signing each other’s yearbooks and saying our goodbyes to friends and those who greatly impacted us, we sang in unison our final cluster chant: “What it be, what it do. Nanochem, Cluster 2, signing off. We’ll miss you.”
Cluster 3
By Jessica Deng
The final week of COSMOS was extremely hectic but just as amazing as all the other weeks. We began the week by welcoming Katharina, the reserve manager for Kresgee, for a lecture on the wildlife she’s been able to capture on the cameras she places around the area where she lives. We were in awe at the incredible footage of mountain lions, coyotes, and other larger animals that are difficult to encounter in person. On Wednesday, we were able to look at the photos and footage from our very own cameras that we set up all the way back in the first week. Our pictures and videos showed bobcats, wild turkeys, deer, and oh so many squirrels, but unfortunately no mountain lions. One of the highlights of our week was being able to go to the grassland habitat in the undeveloped area of UCSC and birdwatch, spotting dark eyed juncos, red tailed hawks, and many more. We were also able to go through owl pellets and extract the skulls of various small rodents and insectivores. The next day, we attempted to identify and match the skulls we found by comparing them to specimens taken from the Norris collection. We were all very hyped to go to the Marine Mammal Center in Sausalito on Thursday despite the two hour drive! Along with Cluster 8, we went on two tours: a tour of the general center as well as a behind-the-scenes tour where we were able to take a peek at some of the animals being rehabilitated there. Our discussion about what they do there to help these marine mammals even inspired some of the people in our cluster to think about volunteering there! Having finished our powerpoints and posters, Cluster 3 is ready to present to Cluster 8 on Friday and blow the parents out of the water during the STEM symposium!
Cluster 4
By Jane Ding
As COSMOS came to an end, Cluster 4 dedicated their last week to completing their astrophysics and nanophysics projects. During the morning lecture on Monday, we had a liquid nitrogen demo that involved pouring the fluid onto a variety of fruits, then throwing the fruits onto the ground to see their changes in hardness. In the afternoon, we shared our presentation plan with Professor Raja to build a general idea of the types of concepts presented. The following day, we practiced presenting the rough drafts of our astrophysics projects in front of the rest of the cluster to get critiques for improving our presentations. On Wednesday, we held a short movie night for one of our RA’s, Mel, who was leaving early. Despite being stressed about the quality and content of our projects, everyone cherished the few days we had left at COSMOS and the family we have become in these four weeks.
Cluster 5
By Carolyn Qian
To the Cluster 5 fellows: we’ll have departed from COSMOS by the time this article comes out, but hopefully this message can reach back in time and help you find solace with your bittersweet goodbyes. It’s really, really hard to say goodbye. Just as rapidly as friendships have sparked within our month here, the inevitable end to our time here at COSMOS has descended upon us. Blink, and you’ll miss it. Reminisce, and you’ll miss it all — our cheesy icebreakers, lovely instructors and mememememes, Marcellos, game design, and yes, even crunch. Here in Cluster 5, we’re all about F E E E E E E E E E L I N G S, so I guess it really doesn’t help that these emotions we’ve harbored throughout the course of COSMOS has been so abruptly brought to an end.
No matter. Sadness is certainly prominent on the emotional spectrum, meaning that, theoretically, it’s completely acceptable for us Cluster 5 kids to feel sad. In other words, it’s okay to feel sad. The microcosm that we’ve immersed ourselves in during this last month has ceased to exist. However, we’ve constructed a virtual community for ourselves through Discord, and our instructors have imparted us with all of the resources and creative drive for us to continue to pursue game design and any other creative endeavors. We’ve come out as more knowledgeable students, as more creative creatives, and as better people.
To the rest of the folks reading our newsletter: our week was busy. And back-breaking and sleep-depriving (despite our instructors’ warnings). Crunch was common among nearly all of us. From Monday to Thursday, our week had been dedicated to our final projects, which were games we’ve created in teams of one to three students. Class time served as a space for us to collaborate on our projects as well as to ask our instructors for any assistance. On Tuesday, we created production timelines, in which we organized every task required in designing our game on a spreadsheet, specifying task delegation, estimated hours spent on each item, the priority of the task, and the energy level required of each task. We sectioned off part of Wednesday’s class for playtesting; students played each others’ games and provided feedback to the game designers as they did so. On Thursday, we received instructions to create our presentations about our final projects and to assemble information for Cluster 5’s annual zine, which catalogs all of our games. Friday had been spent listening to Cluster 7’s presentations and, in turn, presenting to them and letting them try out our games. Aside from class time, most of us spent hours after hours working on our games — scrolling through documentation and tutorials, creating pixel artwork, or coding — staying up until early into the morning and catching fewer hours of sleep than the number of fingers on one hand. Even then, we’d scale down our projects, a necessary heartbreak to the ambitious side of ourselves that, in fact, revealed an important lesson in game design: to properly evaluate the scope of our project given the resources we were provided. All in all, the late-night grind had certainly been arduous yet rewarding, and the experience of designing a game had taught us so much of our relationship with various components of game design.
Thank you for making it through the entire saga of Cluster 5’s activities. So long my friends!
No matter. Sadness is certainly prominent on the emotional spectrum, meaning that, theoretically, it’s completely acceptable for us Cluster 5 kids to feel sad. In other words, it’s okay to feel sad. The microcosm that we’ve immersed ourselves in during this last month has ceased to exist. However, we’ve constructed a virtual community for ourselves through Discord, and our instructors have imparted us with all of the resources and creative drive for us to continue to pursue game design and any other creative endeavors. We’ve come out as more knowledgeable students, as more creative creatives, and as better people.
To the rest of the folks reading our newsletter: our week was busy. And back-breaking and sleep-depriving (despite our instructors’ warnings). Crunch was common among nearly all of us. From Monday to Thursday, our week had been dedicated to our final projects, which were games we’ve created in teams of one to three students. Class time served as a space for us to collaborate on our projects as well as to ask our instructors for any assistance. On Tuesday, we created production timelines, in which we organized every task required in designing our game on a spreadsheet, specifying task delegation, estimated hours spent on each item, the priority of the task, and the energy level required of each task. We sectioned off part of Wednesday’s class for playtesting; students played each others’ games and provided feedback to the game designers as they did so. On Thursday, we received instructions to create our presentations about our final projects and to assemble information for Cluster 5’s annual zine, which catalogs all of our games. Friday had been spent listening to Cluster 7’s presentations and, in turn, presenting to them and letting them try out our games. Aside from class time, most of us spent hours after hours working on our games — scrolling through documentation and tutorials, creating pixel artwork, or coding — staying up until early into the morning and catching fewer hours of sleep than the number of fingers on one hand. Even then, we’d scale down our projects, a necessary heartbreak to the ambitious side of ourselves that, in fact, revealed an important lesson in game design: to properly evaluate the scope of our project given the resources we were provided. All in all, the late-night grind had certainly been arduous yet rewarding, and the experience of designing a game had taught us so much of our relationship with various components of game design.
Thank you for making it through the entire saga of Cluster 5’s activities. So long my friends!
Cluster 6
By Natasha Lal
As the final days of COSMOS slip away, Cluster 6 is hard at work putting the final touches on our projects. In our networking classes, we’ve started to wrap up the final few layers of the internet. On our online lab journals, we’ve been polishing up our reports in which we discuss a certain aspect of networking that interests us. However, our robotics projects have been even more of a grind. The last few hours we’ve gotten in the labs and with each other have been put to good use, as we’ve whipped out our toolboxes of accumulated knowledge and gotten to work. We’ve finished writing our presentations, perfected our programs, and are working on integrating everything we’ve written for our roachbots to create a beautiful, metaphorical mosaic of code. However, all work and no play make for a cranky cluster. So, we went to the Computer History Museum, where we got to see and learn about the history of computers and computing machines. COSMOS has been an amazing and enriching experience for us, and while we’re sad to see each other go, we’re happy to leave with the knowledge we’ve gained!
Cluster 7
By Rachel Shen, Steven Deng
Press X to doubt that Cluster 7 isn’t the best cluster ever! You may ask, why is cluster 7 the best cluster? It’s because we do the best labs and go on the best field trips!
For the first two days of the week, we entered full throttle into finding the LD50 of daphnia, which is the dosage that kills 50% of a population. We first utilized varying concentrations of saltwater to freshwater, and then everyday products such as hot cheeto powder, makeup remover and MSG. But don’t worry too much, since daphnia aren’t sentient beings.
Wednesday was a fun field trip day at the UCSC farm. We picked strawberries and sang songs with our Environmental Toxicology professor, Peter Weiss. It was truly a wholesome and memorable experience. We ended our week with some Jeopardy which firmly wrapped up our academic portion of the program.
However, there are some bittersweet feelings in the air -- although we look forward to our presentations to cluster 5 and our parents, we will miss our fellow cluster mates and professors.
Stay strong, COSMOS!
For the first two days of the week, we entered full throttle into finding the LD50 of daphnia, which is the dosage that kills 50% of a population. We first utilized varying concentrations of saltwater to freshwater, and then everyday products such as hot cheeto powder, makeup remover and MSG. But don’t worry too much, since daphnia aren’t sentient beings.
Wednesday was a fun field trip day at the UCSC farm. We picked strawberries and sang songs with our Environmental Toxicology professor, Peter Weiss. It was truly a wholesome and memorable experience. We ended our week with some Jeopardy which firmly wrapped up our academic portion of the program.
However, there are some bittersweet feelings in the air -- although we look forward to our presentations to cluster 5 and our parents, we will miss our fellow cluster mates and professors.
Stay strong, COSMOS!
Cluster 8
By Anika Wadhera
It’s incredible how fast four weeks can fly by in Cluster 8. The week began with a diverse set of lectures informing us of various marine ecosystems, from kelp forests and coral reefs to polar regions. After grinding to finish our presentations and posters, we were relieved to relax and watch informative documentaries about the human impacts on marine mammals such as manatees and dolphins. We were excited to review our knowledge of the coursework in a fun game of Jeopardy: Oceanography Edition, followed by a few trivia rounds against Professor Marinovic. We had an unforgettable field trip to the Marine Mammal Center in Sausalito, where we got to see first hand how organizations rescue and rehabilitate injured and stranded marine mammals. It was extremely humorous when the sea lions propped themselves up on their front flippers to look at us as we passed by their pools. I’ve had a great time here at COSMOS, and I will never forget the friends I’ve made and amazing experiences I’ve had here. I wish my Cluster 8 comrades the best of luck in the future, and I hope that our paths cross in the future!
Cluster 9
By Kevin Wang
Despite mourning the loss of our comrade Sudhir, Cluster 9 embraced our final week which was jam-packed with guest lectures. Our first guest lecture of the week by Noujan Pashanasangi was about subgraph counting. We took a deep dive into graph theory, from understanding basic terms like “acyclic” and “clique” to learning about edge orbit. Our next lecture by Professor Yang Liu discussed Fair Machine Learning, a newer field with the goal of having a fair machine learning model without causing any harm. For example, Amazon had to shut down a recruiting engine that showed bias against women. We learned strategies to avoid unfairness while simultaneously maintaining high accuracy. Following fairness came a lecture by Professor Yu Zhang on Energy Data Analytics. Professor Zhang focused on making power grids smarter by applying machine learning. We started with learning about the importance of the US power grid and the tremendous cost of power outages, then we moved on to how we can use kernel-based learning to solve forecasting issues. The ensuing lecture by Professor Marilyn Walker discussed Natural Language Generation, which is a field of NLP that involves producing a system that can output natural language, and used the example of a Yelp review generator to explain how to construct such a system. Our final lecture by Professor Lise Getoor discussed responsible AI and Machine Learning systems, using similar examples of irresponsible systems as Professor Yang Liu’s discussion on Fair Machine Learning. Professor Getoor emphasized the importance of ethics in a machine learning model in order to result in responsible data science. We also learned that the real problem isn’t advanced artificial intelligence taking over the world, but the amount of trust that we currently put into the systems in place. Overall, these lectures gave us insight into different fields of Machine Learning and AI and the amount of opportunities available in those fields. As our time at COSMOS comes to a close, I would like to thank my professors, TAs, teacher fellow, and most importantly my cluster comrades for making COSMOS the best summer!
Cluster 10
By Allison Cui
The first three weeks went by in a blink; it’s unbelievable how fast the last week of COSMOS has arrived. The nostalgia had begun to kick in for some people, for this once-in-a-lifetime experience is almost coming to an end. Nevertheless, we continued to hammer away at our final projects and presentations because deadlines were approaching very quickly. On Monday, Professor Oye spent some time reviewing our homework on hydrostatic deformation and compressive and tensile strain. We also made the last couple of adjustments to our posters. The next day, we had the opportunity to visit an electron microscope lab on campus with cluster 2. It was an exciting experience as we got to watch the lab technician take pictures of nanoparticles and etch the world’s smallest uwu. Wednesday was pretty laid-back since we dedicated most of our day to practice talks and brushing up presentations with advice from Professor Oye. On Thursday, as people may know through our cluster chant, we had a final that covered material from the last 4 weeks. This pretty much wrapped up our time in the cluster 10 classroom as we all leave COSMOS with much more knowledge in the engineering field.